


Daisies and Motor Oil

by Missy



Category: Laverne & Shirley (TV)
Genre: Character Study, Exploration, Gen, Gender Identity, Self-Discovery, Sexual Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:27:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25176892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missy/pseuds/Missy
Summary: Shirley discovers that she might not just like pretty dresses, stuffed animals and dainty perfume.She might like being a guy sometimes.  And that's all right with her.
Relationships: Shirley Feeney/Original Female Characters
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

She holds on to Squiggy’s leather jacket for a long time. 

Sometimes she takes it out of the closet and holds it up to her chest, remembering how confident she felt wearing it, her hair slicked back, her stance wide, the jeans she wore concealing her body and keeping people from making ugly judgments about her.

More importantly, she feels _free_. 

Freedom is not a cheap. It was not something she could buy at Woolworths. It is the feeling of walking into Moby Dominick’s or into Vinny’s Pool Hall without worrying about a come-on or a groping hand. It is about being able to come home late at night without worrying about her reputation. It’s the notion of becoming a sailor, a soldier, without being told she was tiny, weak, a cream puff who needed to stay home, barefoot and pregnant. She can get drunk without worrying about being taken advantage of, and she can pick a life of bachelorettehood without being called an old maid.

So she keeps the jacket until Squiggy asks for it back. She wears it around when she want to feel strong. She holds herself differently – high and strong, her shoulder set forward, her jaw set. Sometimes she combs her hair back and wears loose jeans out. She hides a bottle of cologne in the back of her dresser, and blots it on her neck, feeling fresher than she does in flowers and crinoline and pearls. She goes to bars and tries out the look, drinking and laughing, and shooting games all by herself. 

When a girl looks at her for the first time – really look at her - she smiles back, and all of the ‘should bes’ and ‘must bes’ fall away.

She is who she is – smelling like spraypaint or perfume, engine grease or daisies.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quick 100 word coda, based on Shirley's doctor personae from "Whose Papa?"

Shirley doesn’t intend to go back to the hospital dressed up as ‘Doctor Feeney’, but she’s intrigued. Rusty seemed like a nice girl – and she’s a pretty girl. The kind that tugged upon the strings of Shirley’s heart. 

So it seemed completely reasonable to wear her uniform and to spirit gum a mustache upon her face once again. It seemed like a worthwhile way to spend time, just drifting through the halls, with this tall blonde nurse on her arms.

Shirley squired her to the movies, to a fancy dinner. And the truth returned.

She wasn’t all lace and lipstick.


End file.
